5th September 2017
By Graham Smith
More details have emerged about a major housing scheme proposed for the north west of Wadebridge.
The site, between the A39 Ball roundabout and Bodieve, has been the subject of a previous planning application which was rejected unanimously by Cornwall’s planners in March.
Now a new Planning Performance Agreement has been submitted to council officials, ahead of what is likely to be a fresh bid to win approval. The intention to make a further attempt to develop the site was signalled at a public exhibition in Egloshayle in June.
The new application appears to suggest a significant reduction in the number of houses – from the original 450 to around 300 – and includes a school, a pub and land for employment.
Other eye-catching details include a new road, which would take lorries away from the existing Bodieve Road and the Wadebridge school and sports centre. Another feature of the layout would be the construction of a new footbridge over the A39, linking the site with land “inside” the Wadebridge by-pass.
Meanwhile council officials are still in talks with Leicester property developer Michael Merriman, who hopes to build houses on the site of Wadebridge Football Club.
This scheme, which is linked to plans for a new football club site behind the school, and a residential scheme at Gonvena Hill, is already overdue for a decision. Wadebridge Town Councillors are due to consider it on Thursday evening.
The Wadebridge area is due to take an additional 1,100 new homes before 2030 - but there is no consensus on where they should be built. A local Neighbourhood Development Plan, which has been debated for nearly five years, might be tested at a local referendum next year.